DA says crime scene witnesses who record video have rights

The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office is clearing up the guidelines for police in cases where a witness is recording video or taking photos at a crime scene.

Four key rules were outlined in the policy that District Attorney Stephen Zappala announced at a news conference Monday.

- An officer can't stop you from recording just because they spot you in the area.

- The officer is not allowed to take your camera or phone away from you.

- The officer cannot review or erase the footage you shot.

- If an officer thinks you are obstructing justice, they have every right to seize your camera or phone.

"We're going to look at each case on a case-by-case basis," Zappala said. "The important thing from my perspective is to make sure the officers understand there are constitutional rights in play here, and those have to be protected."

Zappala also made it clear that video captured at a crime scene could be used as evidence.

"As to any constitutional right, they're not unlimited. They have to be exercised reasonably," he said. "So if you want to video somebody, a police officer in a public place, you have the right to do that. You do not have the right to antagonize the officer and try to make them arrest you."If you want to yell at a police officer and call them names, again, that right has to be exercised reasonably, and it's not unlimited, but you have the right to do that, and we're going to make sure that every police officer in this county understands that we're talking about people's constitutional rights, and they have the right to exercise them."

There will be training given to reinforce officers' understanding. "The chiefs have adopted the policy, and they have promulgated that to their membership, which is 118 agencies, and we are going to start training at roll call at the earliest convenience," Zappala said.